The Minnesota Timberwolves are finding out just how difficult the playoffs can be.
The team was up a whopping 26 points over the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday night, seemingly on their way to taking a 2-1 lead in the first round.
Instead, they completely dropped the ball and ended up losing, 104-95.
It was one of the most epic meltdowns in NBA history and can only be described as embarrassing.
So what is the plan moving forward for the T-Wolves?
Karl-Anthony Towns when asked what he can do as a leader to pick up the group:
"Go home, drink some wine and move on to the next day. That’s really simple. Just decompress, decompress."
— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) April 22, 2022
The team’s lead player, Karl-Anthony Towns, has a simple plan.
Speaking after the game, he described what comes next: “Go home, drink some wine and move on to the next day. That’s really simple. Just decompress, decompress.”
That isn’t a bad way to move forward but will anything get this team back on track?
Soul Searching
When your team gives up a 26-point lead, you really need to examine what went wrong.
In the case of Thursday’s performance, a lot went off the rails for the Timberwolves.
Memphis outsmarted and outscored Minnesota 37-12 in the fourth quarter and their defense shut down practically everything the Timberwolves tried.
ESPN notes that the Grizzlies contested 25 of the T-Wolves’ 39 attempts in the second half.
Once again, the Grizzlies showed that they have one of the deepest rosters in the entire NBA.
Their star player, Ja Morant, was held to just 16 points – although he still achieved a triple-double.
Meanwhile, the rest of the squad stepped up, especially Desmond Bane with his 26 points.
The Timberwolves just didn’t have an answer for everything the Grizzlies were throwing at them and that’s what led to their collapse.
Time is quickly running out for Minnesota.
If they don’t get it together as soon as possible, they’ll have a lot of time to drink all the wine they want.
NEXT: Can The Timberwolves Take Down The Grizzlies?